BASKETBALL
Mason, Weaver leaving Arkansas
A few roster questions for the University of Arkansas women's basketball team were answered Wednesday.
Jailyn Mason and Macy Weaver announced on their Twitter accounts that they would transfer, while Grayce Spangler said her basketball career was finished via her social media on Monday. The Razorbacks (19-9) were upset 66-62 by Wright State in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on Monday.
All three are seniors, but the NCAA granted winter sport athletes an extra year of eligibility in October.
Mason, who redshirted last year because of a foot injury, averaged 3.5 points and 2.2 rebounds coming off the bench for Arkansas. The 5-9 guard from Mason, Ohio, played in 27 of Arkansas' 28 games with three starts and averaged more than 20 minutes per game. Mason scored in double figures three times this season, including a season-high 16 in Arkansas' 105-58 win over Central Arkansas. She had started 97 of 98 games in her first three season with the Razorbacks, averaging 8.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.1 steals.
Weaver played in seven games this season, while Spangler, a Fayetteville graduate, appeared in just one.
-- Paul Boyd
UALR's Bankston enters portal
University of Arkansas at Little Rock forward Kris Bankston has entered the transfer portal, the program confirmed Wednesday. The 6-8 redshirt junior from Little Rock Fair averaged 5.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per game in 80 appearances for the Trojans.
Bankston made 15 starts as a freshman in 2017-18, then recorded his best season with the Trojans as a sophomore when he posted 8.2 points and 4.5 rebounds in a career-high 21.6 minutes per game.
A back injury limited him to three games in 2019-20. He earned a medical redshirt and returned to appear in 16 games this season, averaging 3.4 points and 1.8 rebounds.
He is the second Trojan to exit the program since the beginning of the 2020-21 season, joining Markquis Nowell who opted out in February and entered the transfer portal earlier this month.
-- Eli Lederman
GYMNASTICS
Carter makes All-SEC
Arkansas senior Sophia Carter earned All-SEC honors for the third time in her career after posting a 9.95 on the floor exercise at the SEC Championships, the league office announced Wednesday.
Carter, from Blue Springs, Mo., posted her ninth 9.95 and the first for a Razorbacks on the floor at SECs, breaking Katherine Grable's school-record 9.925 in 2013. Carter ranks No. 17 nationally on the floor exercise. To earn the All-SEC designation, a competitor has to finish in the top two of an event, including ties.
Arkansas posted a 49.425 on the floor exercise at SECs on Saturday in Huntsville, Ala., its highest score on that event at the championship.
The No. 10 Razorbacks were one of nine teams chosen to compete in the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional hosted by No. 7 Alabama, the SEC champion, on April 2.
-- Tom Murphy
BASEBALL
Harding pushes past Christian Brothers
Harding University (10-5) used a three-run fifth inning and three double plays Wednesday in a 4-2 victory over Christian Brothers (2-17) at Nadicksbernd Field in Memphis.
The Bisons' three runs in the fifth inning all came with two outs. Harrison Hefley hit an RBI single to score David Butterfield, who had walked earlier in the inning. Hefley and Connor Kelly scored when Luke Van Dover extended his team-best hitting streak to nine games with a single.
Harding scored again in the sixth inning as Cody Smith walked and moved to third on two wild pitches before scoring on Michael Chrisman's ground ball.
SOCCER
Lyon women win at home
The Lyon College women (5-5, 5-3 American Midwest Conference) used three second-half goals to beat Harris-Stowe State 4-1 on Wednesday in Batesville.
Sarah Evans scored in the 37th minute to give the Scots a 1-0 lead. After Adrianna Smith's goal early in the second half tied the match at 1-1, Lyon College got goals from Alexandria Denton in the 73rd and 83rd minutes, as well as a goal from Hailey Gonzales in the 84th minute -- her team-best fifth of the season and third in as many matches -- to pull away for the victory.
-- Democrat-Gazette Press Services